I’ve always loved Japanese noodles and ramen, and when I heard about Muku Japanese Ramen, it bumped a lot of places down on my “to-go” list. I was sick and exhausted and I just wanted a fantastic bowl of noodles. I think I got my hopes way up as we entered the parking lot, I couldn’t stop smiling. Well, unfortunately, that smile quickly turned flat for confusion, and then upside down.

The menu was great, it offered a lot of options and different types of ramen from different regions of Japan. Seeing the menu so specialized, I figured it didn’t matter what I ordered, it’s gotta be good. So, we got a little appetizer and we ordered the Shrimp Dumpling, which really was as it stated on the menu “steamed shrimp dumpling” which is what the Chinese has for dim sum… but here at Muku, they lacked flavour. It was really bland, and I had to add hot sauce to the dipping sauce it came with.

I tried the Shoyu Ramen and from the menu, it says it’s from the Tokyo region, with ramen cooked in chicken broth soup with a soybase sauce. The Shoyu ramen was topped with sliced chicken breast, green onions, bamboo shoots (menma), a tiny slice of Japanese fish cake (naruto) and a sheet of dried seaweed (nori). I must say, it was definitely prettier to the eye than to the taste buds. The noodles were under cooked, and there was a taste of

We also ordered the Koku-Miso Ninja Ramen mainly because it sounded cool! Who doesn’t want a bowl of ninja ramen? Well, this bowl had bbq pork, green onion, bean sprout, and corn, and the miso soup was quite different. It was yellow and much greasier.

Overall, I think someone would really have to drag me here for me to go again. I’ve heard of a few other Japanese noodles places in town that I’d love to try before returning. The prices weren’t terrible, but I was a little disappointed with the lack of flavour, and the texture of the noodles with a weird taste of the noodles, and the amount of grease in the soup just doesn’t attract me.